Gaia Hypothesis Guidance Plan

Dane Whitman, having obtained the purified Ebony Sword, became the first Benevolence Society member to enter Avalon.

Perhaps this was also fate, given that he was descended from Britain?

"Y-you’re Malorne?"

Looking at the White Deer Soul Projection before him, Dane felt utterly shaken.

"You’re… alive now?"

"Hello, Whitman Branch Leader."

A faint smile appeared on Malorne’s deer face as he shook his massive antlers. He had followed Dane’s transformation from beginning to end.

"Congratulations on gaining supernatural power. If you need practice, I suggest you come here. The buildings outside aren’t very sturdy."

"I… can come here anytime?"

After learning that this place was Avalon, Dane inevitably thought of his family legacy and his uncle’s final wish.

The difference in treatment was way too huge!

Sure enough, he needed to find himself a golden thigh to cling to…

Shaking his head to dismiss those unreliable thoughts, Dane looked at the Ebony Sword in his hand and frowned.

"I can feel how powerful it is, but here, wouldn’t it…"

"Don’t worry. Avalon is protected by Nature Force. It can handle whatever you throw at it."

Oaks pointed toward the outskirts.

"The plains here are surrounded by forests. The atmosphere isn’t exactly pleasant, but it’s suitable for practice.

Later, we’ll need to renovate this place. It will open Portal routes to the five continents and the Nature Guardian.

That means our organization will be more integrated than any company branch in the world…

In the literal, physical sense."

In other words, even if he was stationed at the Europe Branch, he could receive all kinds of support from headquarters at any time.

That made Dane breathe a huge sigh of relief.

"President, the Society’s support will arrive tomorrow… What time is it now?"

Though he was reluctant to leave this incredible environment, Dane knew his responsibilities were important. It was already nighttime outside, wasn’t it?

"This place maintains this lighting year-round. It’s already past midnight outside.

Given the circumstances, go deal with the castle first. I’ll head to the branch to build a Portal… Take this."

Oaks handed Dane an earplug modified with nature magic.

"When you’re done, use it to call Malorne. He’ll open a passage for you and send you directly to the branch."

"Understood, president."

Dane left first to deal with the castle.

"Malorne, connect me to Tony and Bruce. With the five-hour time difference, their nightlife should be in full swing right now."

"Yes, brother."

The projection interface appeared, displaying the communication windows for Tony and Banner. Before long, the call connected.

"Hey! Oaks, where are you… Huh?!"

Before Tony could finish, he spotted the Great White Deer behind Oaks and immediately widened his eyes.

"You went hunting?!"

"…That’s Malorne’s new form."

Oaks curled his lip at Tony’s ignorant expression.

"I told you before that I had an auxiliary consciousness for the Life Sanctuary Project. That’s him."

"’Him’?"

Banner, beside him, keenly noticed Oaks’s different wording. They had not referred to Malorne that way before.

"You mean… Malorne has become a real living creature now?"

He stroked his chin thoughtfully.

"Was that what the Consciousness Conversion Device we built before was for?

But according to our projections, it should still have lacked a data conversion algorithm. Did you solve that with magic?"

"More or less. Are you both at Avengers Tower? If you return to the Nature Guardian, you’ll see how Malorne is different—

Haven’t you noticed that my location looks different?"

Oaks rotated the Holographic Projection. Avalon’s Central Plains and the enormous Sacred Oak came into Tony and Banner’s view, making the two world-class scientists stare wide-eyed.

"This… Did you go to that Alfheim place?"

Tony remembered Oaks mentioning such a scenic world. During the Greenwich incident, he had even seen it with his own eyes and traveled to that world himself.

"No, this is a transit world, my private space… I’ve sent you the detailed information."

After quickly reviewing the information Malorne had sent, Tony covered his forehead.

"If anyone says I’m rich again, I’ll fight them… No matter how rich I am, could I buy a whole Small World?!"

"It’s real estate, not cash flow."

Oaks smugly raised his chin.

"What do you think of this place as the Life Sanctuary?"

"…I have to admit, it’s more reliable than anywhere on Earth."

Banner nodded with a serious expression. Like Steve, he had not the slightest good opinion of governments or militaries.

After what happened with S.H.I.E.L.D., that was even more so—

Even S.H.I.E.L.D. had been infiltrated by Hydra. So among the governments constantly shouting about wiping out Hydra and cracking down on S.H.I.E.L.D.’s "remnants," were there enemies hiding within?

Even without Hydra, political opportunists were endlessly emerging.

People like them who did research feared such things most of all, especially since those people had always had their eyes on Hulk.

"As long as Malorne’s data communications can be guaranteed, this is the most suitable location for the Biological Computer. But we have good news and bad news."

Banner looked at Tony, who nodded and pulled up a Holographic Projection window beside him.

"The good news is that we successfully designed a suitable algorithm for the Biological Computer and passed the simulations.

The bad news is that calibrating the Mind Stone data with the new algorithm showed that if we rely on the Biological Computer to carry the Gaia Hypothesis… we may need several years to collect the necessary Earth environmental data.

This isn’t just about scanning the atmosphere and hydrosphere. There’s also the complex lithosphere, and most importantly, the 1.8 million named species alone!"

He tossed the holographic controller in his hand up and down, shaking his head irritably.

"We were too naïve before. Even if we have the computing power to simulate a world, we don’t have enough data to simulate one…

And that data is constantly changing. Even if we gather some suitable data, by the time it is combined with other data for computation, the difference from reality may already be enormous."

Banner also nodded, looking troubled.

"If we were merely simulating climate, biological evolution patterns, or even projecting broad environmental trends, the data would be sufficient. But if we want to guide the Gaia Hypothesis to ‘descend,’ this is still nowhere near enough."

There were two ways to guide the Gaia Hypothesis’s descent.

First, Oaks could raise his reputation to Revered and use the Mind Stone’s power to guide it. That would only require a blank Biological Computer with sufficient processing power.

But Oaks could not do that yet, so they could only slowly proceed with the second method—

They would continuously improve the completeness of the "simulated ecosystem." Once its completion level was high enough, Oaks could use the Mind Stone to guide the Gaia Hypothesis’s attention in advance, allowing an "initial consciousness" to emerge within this incomplete product and attract the Gaia Hypothesis to descend on its own.

But they had not expected it to take so long.

Originally, this was not a big problem. For a monumental project of this scale, spending decades on it would have been normal.

But Earth could not wait, Oaks could not wait, and neither could Tony and the others.

Still, the problem was not unsolvable. They simply could not rely on themselves alone anymore.

"I have an idea that may solve this problem."

Oaks slowly explained his idea. After thinking it over for a long time, Tony and Banner both nodded.

"This method is feasible. Then let’s put out the call in the names of the three of us…"

Tony’s mood had clearly improved. Every day sooner that the plan was completed meant one day sooner that Earth would have a comprehensive defense and early-warning system. That was something he desperately wanted to see.

"Honestly, even with Bruce joining, your environmental technology company still isn’t well-known enough."

"Even with you added in, it still wouldn’t be enough. That’s why I originally planned to wait before doing this."

Oaks sighed.

"Looks like we need to unveil our big move as soon as possible. We need some achievements to raise our standing in the world."

"Being Avengers isn’t enough?!"

Tony widened his eyes and gave an exaggerated laugh.

"There are three Avengers here, the kind who saved the world!"

"This is a scientific research project. We can’t use combat strength to rally scientists."

Banner understood Oaks’s thinking better, because he thought the same way himself.

"Actually, Tony, your clean energy plan is a very good model. You just need to expand its scale further.

Also, if the products from our company that Oaks mentioned can reach the same level of promotion as your clean energy, then if we make a joint appeal, I believe it will have a very good effect."

"What product from your company?"

Tony looked curiously at Banner, who was clearly somewhat proud.

"Mechanical Prosthetics? They would indeed be great if included in medical insurance, and expanding them worldwide would also be good, but they’re not really a mass public welfare project."

"That’s why we prepared a public welfare project series—grain."

Oaks spread his hands.

"We didn’t tell you before because we had only just begun pilot testing in Sokovia.

But now, we may need to begin pilot work across all five continents as soon as possible."

"Grain, Sokovia…"

Tony twitched the moment he heard that place name, but the word grain made his eyes light up.

"You’ve made progress? Excellent…

All right, then Stark Industries will conduct clean energy pilot projects across all five continents simultaneously. Are you planning to establish branches on all five continents?

Then I’ll handle the energy supply!"

"Good. We’ve already confirmed the Europe Branch. I’ll send you the address…"

Oaks raised an eyebrow. What an unexpected bonus.

"Also, if you can develop an automated harvesting and fine-processing system based on our Grain Plan, I think it would be very helpful."

"Of course. Machinery is my specialty!"

Tony slapped his chest twice.

"Leave it to me. Next, you need to take a look at our Biological Computer design blueprint…"